HauGiang (VNS/VNA) - Embankments made of natural materials toprevent erosion along rivers and canals have proved so effective in Hau Giangthat the province plans to expand the model.

Two yearsago the Mekong Delta province’s Irrigation Sub-department built three suchembankments running a total length of 380 metres in Phung Hiep district and NgaBay town on a trial basis. 

They weremade by filling eroded areas with soil and erecting between them and the watera barrier made from cajuput trunks or bamboo. Permeable fabric or fine netswere installed outside the barrier to hold the soil.

Thebarriers also cushion the banks from ripples and waves caused by travellingboats.

Cajuputand other plants that grow in water were then planted inside the barriers sothat their roots bind the soil against erosion.

They cost350 million VND (15,000 USD). Their cost per metre was only 400,000 VND (17 USD)compared to 60 million VND (2,580 USD) for concrete embankments, according tothe sub-department.

Besides,the trees planted in them generate an income of 700,000 – 900,000 VND (30 – 38 USD)per metre in three or four years’ time. 

Theprovince then built another 25 kilometres of similar embankments last year and143 kilometres so far this year.

In Bung Tau town in Phung Hiep, some 100 households along the Bung Tau and Ngang canalshave built these embankments near their houses.

Cao Van Boi,who built a 30-metre embankment in front of his house in Bung Tau’s Tan Phu A2Hamlet, said many large boats traverse the canal, and without something toblock them, the waves caused by the boats hit the canal banks and causeerosion. “The embankment helps stabilise the bank.”

Besidescajuput, Boi has also planted spotted mangroves in the embankment. He growswater hyacinth in the canal to absorb the energy of the waves until his plantsgrow large enough.

TranThanh Oai, chairman of the Bung Tau town People’s Committee, said locals havebuilt 2,000 metres of embankment under the guidance of officials.

The costis borne by the locals themselves in some places.

The townplans to build more embankments and also instruct residents in building them,Oai said.

TranThanh Toan, head of the sub-department, said the embankments are a sustainablesolution since they offer reliable protection and are cheap andenvironment-friendly.

Their useshould be widely and regularly propagated to educate officials at all levelsand the public, he said.

Theprovince has a dense network of rivers and canals extending nearly 3,500kilometres.

It hassuffered from nearly 250 cases of erosion in the last five years, losing25,000sq.m of land.

Truong CanhTuyen, deputy chairman of the provincial People’s Committee, said the provincehas also built concrete embankments, but their high cost is an inhibitingfactor, he said.

Theearthen embankment is an appropriate solution and the province would expand itsuse, he added./.